Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

spermatium

[spur-mey-shee-uh m]
noun, plural sper·ma·ti·a [spur-mey-shee-uh] /spɜrˈmeɪ ʃi ə/.
  1. Botany. the nonmotile male gamete of a red alga.
  2. Mycology. a minute, colorless cell, of certain fungi and lichens, believed to be a male reproductive body, developed within spermogonia.
Show More

Origin of spermatium

1855–60; < New Latin < Greek spermátion, equivalent to spermat- (stem of spérma) sperm1 + -ion -ium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for spermatium

spermatium

noun plural -tia (-tɪə)
  1. a nonmotile male reproductive cell in red algae and some fungi
Show More

Word Origin for spermatium

C19: New Latin, from Greek spermation a little seed; see sperm 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
spermatium in Science

spermatium

[spər-mā′shē-əm]
Plural spermatia
  1. A nonmotile cell in red algae and certain ascomycete fungi that functions as a male gamete.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.